Nearly every year, the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) holds an election to fill one of our seven allotted seats on the Board; the other four seats are appointed. Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum has twice won his election by landslide margins as STRS members moved toward selecting Board members intent on addressing the problems that led to drastic cuts in member benefits. Fellow Board members recognized Rudy’s skill set and voted him as their Board Chair. To date, Rudy has spent over $100,000 of his personal money trying to reform the pension for members. Read on to find out why.

When an appointed Board member, Wade Steen, started siding with membership seeking reform, he was improperly removed by the Governor. A suit filed to overturn the governor’s action was eventually won by Wade Steen with funding support from the Ohio Retirement for Teachers Organization (ORTA). The following year, another reform-minded Board member was elected by a wide margin. Here is what happened since then.

The STRS management team wrote an anonymous letter to the Governor, full of innuendos and accusations, charging Wade Steen and Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum of breaching their fiduciary duties. The letter ended up on the lap of the Attorney General (AG), Dave Yost. The AG filed charges. When the AG files charges against a Board member, the Ohio legislative code, unbelievably, states that the AG also gets to provide the defense. Both men thought this was highly unfair and sought independent counsel. ORTA shared their concerns and stated they would help with their financial burden. By not going through the AG, who charged them, for their defense, the men were told that their Board member insurance policy would not cover their expenses.

After ORTA and its members reimbursed Rudy and Wade for slightly over $280,000 in legal expenses, the Ohio Ethics Commission contacted ORTA and told them they had to stop giving money to a sitting Board member. This left Dr. Fichtenbaum with the task of personally financing his own defense. Rudy strongly believed he was acting in the best interests of members and ran up a debt of over $100,000.

Why is this important? STRS members know they will never get rich as teachers, but when they choose to serve on their own pension Board to work for members, they never expect to have to lose their life savings for doing what they believe is right for members. Being out over $100,000 and counting, how do we expect Dr. Fichtenbaum to be able to appeal an unfavorable decision when there are possible legal grounds for an appeal? How can we expect to attract future Board members if we can’t rally around Rudy? Please stand up for Rudy.

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